My challenge for 2015: try something new every day for a whole year.

Day 187 – fear

And I could have done without its “first”! We got on a plane early in the morning and I wasn’t feeling to safe anyway when a couple of technicians had to come on board to check some hydraulics light that wasn’t coming on before we were able to take off. (Should you happen to be a pilot: I personally consider it the better tactic not to tell passengers that something was wrong but is ok now – just don’t mention anything being wrong!). I’m not the best flyer anyway, but any deviation from routine can send me over the edge towards panic… And yesterday was the closest I came to panic in a long time – twice!

Luckily I was surrounded by family and they managed to calm me down quite well before take-off. The fact that we’d gotten up at two thirty in the morning also helped a little, I think. I was just too tired to really focus on anything, even my fear. During the flight I focused on F., the lovely view below and the holiday that lay ahead of me.

When the pilot said we were about to land, I was so glad we’d made it. However, about to land isn’t having landed, of course. So we all had quite a fright when, just as we were expecting the thump as the plane touches down, we took off again. It’s quite a short runway and he’d come in a bit too high. In the end, it wasn’t a big deal, but it was pretty scary at first. Although, weirdly, I also felt a bit of a roller-coaster kind of rush when I first realized what was happening. Must have been the adrenaline.

I’ve since found out from Uncle Google that these manoeuvres aren’t actually that rare and that they are pretty standard procedure if the plane hasn’t touched down yet. The proper name is go-around, apparently, and I figure a manouvre that comes with a name can’t be that dangerous. One way or another, this was a “first” that can stay a “last” for all I care! I just hope this hasn’t made my fear of flying any worse…

But for now I intend to enjoy every minute of the holiday. Check back later for more on that!